Learning Curve
by DarkeFlame
Summary: It’s time for someone to *finally* put Hibari in his place.


**Author: DarkeFlame  
Rating: T cause I feel like it  
I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. If I did, the pairings would be so screwed up...  
Well, since some were complaining the other version was a bit MS-ish, I'm rewriting it with Dino instead, because he's the only one who could ever beat Hibari. And when I wrote it I hadn't found out the wonderful world of D18 yet.**

Learning Curve

I was calmly walking across campus when I accidentally bumped into someone. All around me there was a sudden silence, then whispering and hushed "ohhhhs" erupting from the gathering crowd. I looked up to see who I had run into. That someone happened to be Hibari-san. He was staring coldly at me, obviously waiting for some form of apology. He wasn't getting one.

"Watch it, Hibari-_kun_." Everyone started "ohhhh"-ing again. Everyone could tell from his face what he was thinking. It went along the lines of

"_How dare that herbivore run into me"_ and _"How dare that boy call me -kun"._

I went on, heedless of the warning signs. "Don't let it happen again, because I won't be as forgiving next time." I turned on my heel and walked towards the ring of people surrounding us. My head jerked forward with a gasp of surprise as I felt something metal collide with the back of my head. "Now that's unfair, attacking someone while their back is turned" I said in a patronizing tone, rubbing the back of my head and turning to face the offender. Hibari just shifted his grip on his tonfa, and narrowed his eyes. I pulled out my whip, and cocked my head to the side.

Hibari rushed forward, lifting his tonfa as if to strike me in the head again. I raised my whip to catch his weapon, and pulled my hand back and punched him squarely in the face. I winced slightly as I saw a trickle of blood on my fist from his nose. He touched his nose to inspect the damage and sneered as he saw the blood.

He ran at me again, with his tonfa lowered so he could hit me again. Instead of trying to catch his tonfas like last time, seeing it would be nearly impossible to predict where he would land his blows, I stepped to the side and stuck out my foot, and hit him in the forearm when he stumbled, trying to numb his arm into uselessness using one of the hundreds of pressure points throughout the human body.

"When fighting an opponent who is stronger or more skilled than you, do not hesitate to fight dirty." He straightened up with all the dignity of his position, and replied with

"Flattery will not always get you what you want in life."

I realized staying on the defensive would not be enough in this fight, and preempted his eventual attack by hitting in the same forearm with my whip to completely immobilize it and render it useless for a few minutes. Unfortunately, I was focused on my attack on his right arm to not notice him throw his left tonfa to hit me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me and forcing me back several steps.

I replied with "Sacrifices are necessary. Loose the battle to win the war." I smiled grimly, hitting his arm one last time as he lost his grip on his right tonfa and it fell slightly, evidence that my attack had served its purpose; putting his right arm out of the fight. He scooped up the tonfa he had thrown at me in a fluid motion I wouldn't have been capable of making if it weren't for my subordinates hidden in the crowd around us. But Hibari didn't know that.

We ran at each other at the same time, both on the offensive. We met in a clash of metal and flesh, hitting, blocking and dodging. The confrontation lasted for a few minutes as he favored his left arm. I kept trying to hit his left arm to jar the nerves into numbness, while his right arm was useless. I knew the uselessness in his right arm wouldn't last forever, and he was already recovering.

He took me off guard when he punched me in the face with his right hand, much like I did earlier. I stumbled back a few steps, just far enough to stay out of range of his tonfa. I reached up to wipe the blood away from my upper lip, while keeping a close eye on Hibari.

"Never underestimate your opponent, and never assume they are defeated, even if all evidence points to it."

I looked at the blood on my hand, and shut my eyes, to block out the sight of my own blood. I stood there for a moment, putting a confused expression on my face. I heard Hibari running towards me again, and instead of blocking or dodging, I stood there and let him hit me, knocking me to the ground. I opened my eyes as I fell, and gasped in surprise as I hit the ground. Hibari walked and stood over me. I looked away, not catching his eye, and looked defeated. He sneered at me and turned to walk away. Bad move.

I jumped up and hit him in the left arm for all I was worth (which is pretty strong, believe me) to stop the blood flow for a second and cause considerable pain.

"When knocked down, attack from below."

I backed away and hit him in the left arm with my whip. He turned slowly and said, "Didn't you say earlier that it was bad manners to attack someone when their back is turned?"

I replied with "Yes I did, now stop trying to use my sayings against me." I rushed forward again, but stopped just as I got within range and kicked him hard in the left shin. I thought it would put him on his knees, seeing as there is only a thin layer of skin to stop any damage from reaching the nerves and bones. I was wrong. He stumbled a bit, and shifted his weight to his left leg to avoid injuring his leg any more than necessary, because even he knew it doesn't take that much pressure to chip or bruise the bone in such a vulnerable area.

"The shin?" he asked me in his monotone.

"One of the most vulnerable parts of the human body." He raised one eyebrow in disbelief as he studied me for a moment. I acted shocked and affronted at his expression, then shrugged my shoulders and got serious before Hibari took advantage of my distraction.

I studied Hibari to see if I could anticipate his next move by watching his muscles tense and give away his intention. As I was watching I noticed his eyes wander, as if he was bored. I let my eyes wander towards where he was looking, while keeping one eye on him. The growing crowd had swelled to huge proportions while we were fighting. Some idiot had started up a chant of "Fight, fight, fight, fight." Teachers would get here soon to stop the fight. I should finish this up quickly.

"Bored already, Hibari? You should keep your eyes on your opponent, not the scenery." I said to bring him to his senses as I rushed him, aiming to win. His head snapped back to focus on me, and raised his right arm to defend himself, and pivoted backwards on his right foot, so his right side protected his left from any more injuries.

Instead of attacking from a distance, I changed my fighting style and stepped in close so Hibari couldn't use his tonfa effectively. After a few seconds, I realized something important and sped up my attacks so he couldn't use anything from the hidden compartments in his tonfa.

"Rely too much on precedent, and you do not allow for the unexpected." I kept the change in my fighting style up for a minute or so before my attacks lessened in speed and power. I gave every indication of tiring out.

Hibari suddenly threw both of his tonfa away and grabbed me by the neck, putting me in a sort of reverse headlock against his chest. I gasped in pain and surprise, but it was lost in the headlock  
and Hibari's chest******. I waited a few seconds for him to hit me, knock me out, etc. , but after a few seconds, I grew bored of waiting for his next move, and made one of my own.

"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?"

"Enemies? You herbivores don't even pose a threat." He twisted my head slightly as if to prove his point. I kept my face passive, determined not to show weakness and boost his misguided belief that he was better than I or anyone else.

"Pride cometh before the fall, youngling." I said to irritate Hibari more, distract him from his stranglehold on my neck.

"Youngling?" he said in an irate voice, distracting him slightly. Even without looking I could see him frowning.

"It's a religious quote," I said, leading him further and further away from our predicament, smiling slightly.

"Oh really-" he started, but was cut off as I tripped him, knocking us both to the ground, held Hibari down by trapping his legs with mine, and pushed his arms behind and underneath him while he tried to catch and right himself. I kept him from freeing his arms by half laying on him, with my right hand beneath him, holding his arms in place, while my left hand was to the side of his head, keeping my face hovering a few inches above his own. Our weapons lay forgotten in the dust a few feet away.

I held him there, looking him straight in the eye, trying to force him into acknowledging that I had won. The crowd pressed in closer, holding its breath in anticipation. We sat there for a full minute waiting for the other to do something, before he looked away. Acknowledging his acceptance of the loss, I rolled off and away from him, and jumped up to my feet.

I turned around and offered my hand, trying to help him up. He looked at my hand, gave a small snort, and gingerly lifted himself from the frozen ground, wincing slightly at his injuries."If you think it hurts now, wait till the next morning." I said cheerfully. He turned away in apparent disgust at my cheeriness. I ignored this slight and did what anyone would've done (anyone with a death wish, anyway). I grabbed our weapons and limped over to his side, and started pulling him to the nurse's office.

He groaned slightly, but I'm not sure if it was in disapproval or pain. I glared at the wall of people surrounding us, and watched them scurry away, like mice caught out in the open. I pulled Hibari away from the battleground, avoiding any and all teachers, and made it into a side door that led through the school to a janitor's closet and from there the rest of the school. I stopped in the entryway, set Hibari against the wall, and closed the door.

The doorway was our only source of light, and I heard, rather than saw, Hibari slide to the ground. I walked back to him, kneeling next to him, waiting for him to recover his health and dignity. Or at least a few tattered scraps of it, l because I knew he did not take losing well. He looked up questioningly when I touched his forehead.

"I had to shut the door to stop anyone from following us, and I need to know if you have a concussion or not. I did hit you pretty hard." He jerked his head away from my hand, and said the first thing since he lost the fight.

"I wasn't the only one who was hit hard." I laughed, but stopped quickly from the pain in my chest.

"You ready?" He grunted in response. "I'll take that as a yes." I said and wrapped my arms around to pull him in a standing position."By the way, my name's Dino." He grunted again, and I fell silent, because it was difficult to walk and talk at the same time.

We walked for a few minutes in silence, before we saw a silhouette of a door. We limped towards it, and emerged a few rooms away from the nurse's office. I walked him to the nurse's office, and knocked on the door, waiting for the nurse to emerge from the room. She stepped out, and started asking us what was wrong, but stuttered to a stop as she took in our appearance. I looked in a mirror behind her on the wall. If I hadn't known it was a mirror, I probably couldn't have recognized myself.

We were covered in bruises, we both had blood dripping from our possibly broken noses, Hibari couldn't support his weight on his left leg, his arm draped limply over my shoulder, my blond-gold hair was matted with half-dried blood, my right wrist twisted out of place, my free arm coiled protectively around my ribs, and a myriad of other injuries marring our much-abused bodies. I wondered if we would end up in the hospital for broken bones.

The nurse ushered us both into a pair of cots, told us not to move, and ran off, looking for bandages, and possibly a phone to call an ambulance. I thought to myself, 'if we're this injured, how can we go anywhere?', and breathed shallowly, more irritated at her mothering than in pain.

I took one look at Hibari's prone form, and got up to rummage through the cupboards. I found what I was looking for, got two glasses of water, and doled out some Tylenol for Hibari and myself. I limped back to the cots, and swallowed my medication effortlessly. Now to convince Hibari I'm not trying to poison him.

"Hibari, I need you to swallow this. It'll make the pain go away." I said in a hushed, convincing voice, like one would use to calm an angry animal. He opened one black eye, looked at me, and turned his head away resolutely.

"No."

"Come on, Hibari, it's just a bit of Tylenol, it won't kill you." I said in that same trustworthy tone.

"No."

"Hibari…" I said, whining ever so slightly.

"No."

"Fine then, I guess we'll just have to do this the hard way." My voice turning businesslike. I pulled his head towards me, knowing he couldn't protest, and forced his mouth open. He raised his good arm to push me away, when I heard voices. The nurse was returning.

I jumped away from him as if electrified and laid back down on my cot just as the door opened. The nurse came in with a phone, asking for our names, addresses, and parent's contact information. She babbled on about our condition to the operator on the phone, waiting for our information.

Hibari just lay there, and I said in a lost-little-kid tone, "My mommy told me to not give private information out to strangers", barely hiding a wicked smile. The nurse sighed in exasperation, and gave the operator the address of the school, then hung up. She shot me a slightly insulted look, and then started toward Hibari to stop the bleeding. He then gave his trademark,

"Get away from me before I bite you to death, herbivore." The nurse looked scared, finally recognizing him, and walked out. I smiled at him, grateful that he got rid of that pestering woman. I got up, and started limping to the door. "Where are you going?"

"I'm getting out of here before that idiot of a woman can come back and torture us again. I thought it would be obvious." I said, amused. "Thanks' for the advice, Hibari-chan, it was very enlightening." I continued, wiping some blood off my face and clothes before walking out the door, closing it quietly, leaving Hibari stunned, on the cot.

**Hibari's POV**

'Hibari…-chan?' I thought to myself, confused. 'Why did he call me his friend?'

**Dino's POV**

I laughed quietly at Hibari's obvious confusion, not giving away my position from outside the window. I walked away, most of the blood gone, laughing quietly.

***-Hibari found out that his weakness was her single-minded devotion to each attack  
**-oh, how many fangirls would love to be in this position, if it weren't for the fact that Hibari would break their necks…but even then, I don't think they would care-yes he still has his shirt on**


End file.
